Pages

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

....About Those Daily Quests in EVE

EVE is going to have Daily Quests, and after a month since Vegas I'm a little surprised I still see it popping up in blog comments as a negative thing (said another way, of all the things the pundits could complain about, I'm not sure this one tops the list).

The system, as described, didn't sound all that blasphemous. Players will get a bonus payout for the first PVE that they participate in that day. Various activities will get a rank 1 through 5; the higher rank of content, the higher the payout.

I wonder if some of the angst is the lack of clarity from CCP and the internet working itself into a froth. (Wouldn't be the first time....) When described at Vegas, most of the room kind of shrugged and waited for the next statement. I leaned to the guys next to me and said something like "Uhhh... EVE is getting dailys?" More shrugging. It really sounded quiet harmless.

Don't get me wrong. I don't like WoW dailys (I'm talking specifically about Wrath- and Cata-era dailys). I'm not even that fond of GW2 dailys though I can usually ignore them.

I dislike systems that feel even vaguely mandatory; I don't want a laundry list of chores that I "must" complete each session to stay relevant in the game. I don't want something that I "must" complete each session before I can go tackle whatever it is actually I logged in to do. After a week or three of doing the same 'chores' every day, suddenly those 'chores' become almost the entirety of your online play, and burnout ensues.

But I don't mind a system that gives you a small boost for doing something you were going to maybe do anyway; i.e. flexible systems that let you choose the activity and lurk invisibly in the code waiting to surprise you with a boost. Yes, there's an incentive, but it's not the end of the world if you skip a day or a month. For those quiet times, though, the payout becomes another reason to maybe gang up when you otherwise wouldn't, or maybe undock and look for trouble instead of spinning your ship and chatting for the evening. And I think EVE needs a few more good reasons to undock.

Anyway, I'm hopeful that some of this will get explained if CCP Affinity is able to get the PVE plans out in the blog post she promised. Or maybe I'll reread it and light my torch and grab my pitchfork and join the angry mob.

2 comments:

Given Eve's vaunted market, it's not like dailys will hand you anything you couldn't get by other means. For those motivated by dailys this will be an improvement. For those not so motivated, exploiting the fruit of hardworking dailyers labor will be the chosen course.

Eve players all too often get locking into pvpish zero sum, my win builds off your loss thinking. So much so that they conclude that any developer time not spent on their preferred style of game play is automatically subtractive loss they must humiliatingly endure. Sometimes it's not about you.

The key is having a payout that is achievable by other means. Gw2 and wow both tied their dailys to currency that could only be gained a few a day, thus locking upgrades behind a wall that could only be chipped away at a little each day. Skipping the dailys meant a 1:1 delay in cashing out. The cost to ignore them long term became very tangible.

As for allocation of dev time by play style, someone is always going to lose.

Like it or not a thriving PVE content area is vital to eve's future, at least as much (probably more) than other areas. So bring on the PVE content.

Copyright

EVE Online and the EVE logo are the registered trademarks of CCP hf. All rights are reserved worldwide. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EVE Online, the EVE logo, EVE and all associated logos and designs are the intellectual property of CCP hf. All artwork, screenshots, characters, vehicles, storylines, world facts or other recognizable features of the intellectual property relating to these trademarks are likewise the intellectual property of CCP hf. CCP hf. has granted permission to this site to use EVE Online and all associated logos and designs for promotional and information purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not in any way affiliated with this site. CCP is in no way responsible for the content on or functioning of this website, nor can it be liable for any damage arising from the use of this website.